This invention relates to crimping apparatus.
Crimping machines can be used to crimp hose fittings onto hoses, to crimp electrical fittings onto cables, or to press elongated pieces of material into a desired shape. Such a machine typically includes serveral crimping dies at a forward end of the machine that can be forced together by a piston of a ram. The ram may include a cylindrical hydraulic cylinder and a solid piston movable in the cylinder and having camming surfaces at a forward piston end that engage the dies to move them together. A workman normally must insert a hose, cable, or other elongated member through the forward end of the machine, since the rearward end is closed by the piston and cylinder. However, in many situations, it is desirable to allow the elongated member to extend through the rear of the machine.